Mercy
Mercy is a American medical drama television series created by Liz Heldens starring Taylor Schilling, Jaime Lee Kirchner and Michelle Trachtenberg in the lead roles. It was produced by BermanBraun, Selfish Mermaid, Open 4 Business Productions and Universal Media Studios, also distributed by NBC Universal Television Distribution. The series was aired on September 23, 2009 and concluded on May 12, 2010, lasting only one season and 22 episodes. The series initially aired on Wednesday at 8:00 pm (ET) as part of the 2009 fall season, but it was pushed back to 9:00 pm in April. On October 23, 2009, 'Mercy" was picked up for a full 22-episode first season. On May 14, 2010, Syndication decided to cancelled the series after one season. Synopsis The show was an ensemble drama set that was set in the fictional Mercy Hospital in Jersey City, New Jersey. The show focuses on the lives of three nurses: Veronica Flanagan Callahan, who has just returned from a tour of duty in Iraq, Veronica's best friend, Sonia Jimenez who has become seriously involved with a police officer and Chloe Payne, a recent nursing graduate who is thrown into the world of nursing and is unprepared for what it entails. Cast Main *Taylor Schilling as Nurse Veronica Callahan *Jaime Lee Kirchner as Nurse Sonia Jimenez *Michelle Trachtenberg as Nurse Chloe Payne *James Tupper as Dr. Chris Sands *Diego Klattenhoff as Mike Callahan *Guillermo Diaz as Nurse Angel Lopez *James LeGros as Dr. Dan Harris Recurring Cast *David Call as Paul Kempton *Delroy Lindo as Dr. Alfred Parks *Kate Mulgrew as Jeannie Flanagan *Peter Gerety as Jim Flanagan *Michael Chernus as Ryan Flanagan *Patch Darragh as Tim Flanagan *Johnny Hopkins as Bobby Flanagan *Charlie Semine as Nick Valentino *K.K. Moggie as Dr. Gillian Jelani *Margo Martindale as Helen Klowden *Jill Flint as Simone Sands *James Van Der Beek as Dr. Joe Briggs *Mary Stuart Masterson as Dr. Denise Cabe *Kelly Bishop as Lauren Kempton Production Syndication producer Jim Bigwood selected the warehouse at 10 Enterprise Avenue in Secaucus, New Jersey as the filming location for the series. The show occasionally also filmed inside a private residence in Weehawken, New Jersey. However, the production left New Jersey for New York in 2010 when New Jersey Governor Chris Christie suspended the tax credits for film and television production for the fiscal year 2011 to close budget gaps. Some interior shots for the show were filmed in the unused Barnert Hospital in Paterson, New Jersey in the old St Mary's Hospital in Passaic. Exterior shots of Mercy Hospital were taken of the back side of a public school on 4th street (between Newark Ave. and Colgate St.) in Jersey City, New Jersey. The exterior of Lucky 7's Bar was filmed at a location on the corner of 2nd and Coles Street in Jersey City. The interior of the bar was the Park Tavern located on West Side Avenue off Communipaw Avenue in Jersey City. The exterior shots of The Red Fox Saloon were filmed at the Monaghan House in South Amboy, New Jersey. The interior shots of the Saloon were filmed at Ted's Bar in the Morgan area of Sayreville, New Jersey. "Mercy" was originally slated to begin midseason, but was moved to the fall after the premiere of "Parenthood" was pushed to 2010 due to production issues. Reception "Mercy" received a score of 41 of 100 from the review aggregator Metacritic and received mixed to negative reviews from critics. Matthew Gilbert (from The Boston Globe) referred to the show as "a bunch of played-out hospital clichés" and said it "follows the hospital melodrama blueprint way too closely." Similarly, a review in The Hollywood Reporter calls the show "just another hospital soap opera" and "a lethal cocktail of virtually every medical drama ever seen on TV". Matt Roush of TV Guide wrote: "Nurses deserve better than this ludicrous potboiler." Several critics have referred to Mercy as a weak copy of Showtime's "Nurse Jackie." The show's writing has been criticized as "twisting itself into a pretzel to provide ironies" and a review by Maureen Ryan of the Chicago Tribune states that "all the characters are so thinly drawn." In a review in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Rob Owen said the show "hits viewers over the head with its thesis statement that nurses are under-appreciated." Robert Bianco from USA Today stated that "remarkably good actors are going to waste here." On the positive side, in a review in The Daily Telegraph, Rachel Ray found the show "utterly enjoyable" and "marvelous television", while praising the "clicking pace, real-person dialogue, excellent writing, a fresh story line, and thoughtful acting". (Although the review was for a UK paper's online edition, the series did not air on British TV.) Noting an effort by Syndication to find a replacement for the former standout ER, David Hinckley, from the New York Daily News, favorably compared the two shows and stated that Mercy "comes the closest yet to capturing that chemistry." External links Category:2000s television series Category:2010s television shows Category:2009 Category:2010 Category:Syndication